Toy



Dec. 8, 1931. Q KLAUS 1,835,786

TOY

Filed March 50, 1931 INVENTOR film/r 17% 9 may M wm 30 of this nature.

Patented Dec. 8, 1931 PATENT OFFICE.

' OSCAR 'KLAUS, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA TOY . Application filed March 30, 1931. Serial No. 526,271.

, This invention relates to a Whirligig toy; a device, that is to say, for impartingrotation to a propeller, to the end that the'propeller will detach itself from the device and fly into L the air. i i

. The devic'ecomprises a tubewhich has a stem supported axially within its body. Vith the stenrand the tube atorsional spring is associated; a handle is-secured to the stem adjacent one end of the tubefwhile at its other end two pins extend from the face of the tube. A'propeller (or other Whirligig) is adapted to seat over said pins and upon the upper end of the tube; the handle is adapted to be revolved relatively to the tube for.

storing energy in the above-mentioned tor sional spring, whereby, when suficient energyv has been stored in thespring, the handle may be rigidly held in the hand and the tube allowed to spin under the influence of the soenergized spring. Thus, rapid rotation is imparted to the propeller, and the propeller, due to this rotation, lifts itself from engagement with the pins and soars'into the air. I" understand that a toy having the above-described structural characteristics is not new, and remark that my invention is directed to improvements in the organization of elements and in details of structure in a device Sr ch improvements admit of more ready 0 aeration of the toy, and permit of greater economy in its manufacture. It should be understood in this connection, that devices, generally similar to mine and hitherto employed, were of such costly construction as to curtail their wide use.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. I shows in vertical section the improved device of my invention; Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view, showing the upper end of the device with a propeller mounted thereon, ready to receive rotary movement, and upon receiving such movement, to propel itself into the air; and Fig. III is a view in cross section, taken on the plane IIIIII of Fig. I, showing to larger scale the ratchet and pawl which will presently be described in more detail.

Referring to the drawings, the toy includes a tubular body 1. Conveniently, the body 1 is formed of wood, and is closed at its upper end 2, so that the two pins 3 and 4 may be driven. to a rigidand secure position in the body of the end 2. Pins 3 and 4 extend from the upper end of the body, as illustrated, and advantageouslya metal ferrule- 5 is fittedover the end 2, and serves to prevent splitting of the wood of which the tubu: la-r body isconveniently formed.

As shown in Figure II,'a propeller 6 is adapted to be seated upon the end 2 of'body 1.; essentially, the propeller is provided with two holes (not shown) for the reception of pins and 4, to the end that, when the body peller will rotate and will readily detach itself from'engagement withjthe pins.

course, under these circumstances the propeller will move oil into the air.

' An important element of the combination comprising my device is to be found in the ferrule member 7.

This ferrule member 7 includes a transverse web 8, to which mem her 8 there is revolubly secured a ratchet member 9. Above the web 8 the ratchet member is integral with, or secured to,-a cup or sleeve 10, and this sleeve on the upper face of web 8, together with the body of the ratch et which lies against the nether face of the web, serves as efficient means for rotatably securing the ratchet 9 and cup 10 to the ferrule7. c 7

In the cup 10 one end of a stem or rod 11 is firmly secured. Extending from the ratchet' 9 is a tongue 12, and upon this tongue a handle 13 is rigidly ailixed: It will be noted that the stem 11, the ratchet 9, and the handle 13 are thus arranged in axial alignment; it is advantageous that these elements be so arranged. This is for the reason that-the manipulation of the toy isfacilitated, both, when the device is beingprep'ared to effect the discharge of thepropeller, and when it is beingfheld in desired position during such discharge. The stem 11' extends into the tubular body 1, as shown in Fig. I, andupon the stem a helical, torsional spring 14: is mounted; At its upper end the spring-is secured (at 15) to the stem, and at its lower. end the spring is secured (at 16) to the ferrule member 7, that is, to the web 8 of the ferrule member. Obviously, if the tubular body 1 is held and the handle 13 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. I, energy will be stored in spring 14. It will also be perceived, that when energy has been in this manner stored in the spring, and the handle 13 is held immovable, the body 1 upon release will spin rapidly in the direction indicated by the arrow in'Fig. II. So, rotation of the propeller is effected, and, manifestly, sulficiently rapid rotation of the propeller 6 will cause it to lift itself from the pins 3, 4 and fly away into the air.

(lo-operating with the ratchet 9 (this cooperation is particularly essential during the winding of the device, that is, while the handle is being rotated to store energy in spring 14) is a pawl 17. As a matter of fact, I show two pawls 17, and they each are pivotally secured, on pins 18, to the web of ferrule member 7. 'VVhen the device is being wound, it is held in substantially a horizontal position, so that'the pawls 17 will lie approximately in the position in which they are indicated in Fig.7 III. In sucha horizontal position of the device, one or the other of the pawls 17 will, under the influence of gravity, fall against the ratchet, so that, as the handle 13 is rotated step-by-step (i. e. by degrees) to store energyin spring 14, at least one of the pawls will function to prevent an unintentional release of the spring. After the spring has been wound tight (one of the pawls 17,

of course, is in engagement with the ratchet to prevent relative movement between handle 13 and body 1; that is, movement tending to unwind the spring) the propeller 6 is positioned upon the device, as shown in Fig. II. The body 1 is now moved into a substantially vertical position,'and in this position the axes about which the pawls are movable extend in a vertical direction. Accordingly, gravity no longer tends to movethe pawls into engagement with the ratchet 9, and if the existing engagement between the ratchet and pawls be destroyed, as indeed it is destroyed to discharge the spring 14 and to spin the propeller, there is no tendency for either pawl to move into undesired contact with the ratchet. That is,'in discharging position, the pawls swing in substantially a horizontal plane. Accordingly, when the toy is suitably wound and vertically positioned for discharge of the propeller 6, a slight twist of the handle 13 (in the direction ofthe arrow in Fig; I) will shift the pawls out of engage ment with the ratchet 9. Freed of restraint, the tube 1 spins rapidly under action of spring 14; rotation is imparted to the propeller, and under the efiect of such rotation the propeller detaches itself from engagement with the pins 3 and 4 and flies away.

The coaxial arrangement of body 1 and handle 13 is advantageous in that the device may be more readily manipulated, The organization of the ferrule member 7 is particularly desirable; that is, the ferrule member, upon being secured to the lower end of the body 1, is instrumental in holding all parts of the device in assembly. Additionally, the ferrule may be, as in this case I show it to be, formed of soft metal, to the end that its upper edge may be spun into the body 1. Consequently, the structure is assembled with a minimum of labor and cost.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a toy for imparting rotation to a Whirligig, the combination of a tube having secured to its upper end two pins over which said Whirligig is adapted to be seated, a stem extending axially within said tube, a torsional, helical spring mounted upon said stem, a ferrule member secured to the bottom end of the tube, said. torsional spring being secured at its upper end to said stem and at its lower end to said ferrule member, a ratchet rotatably mounted in said ferrule member, said stem being rigidly secured to said ratchet, and a handle secured to the ratchet, said stem, said ratchet, and saidhandle being mutually secured and extending in axial alignment, whereby the ferrule, in being rigidly afiixed to said tube, secures in assembly the several elements of the toy, and a gravity-operated pawl pivotally mounted in said ferrule to lie, unresponsive to gravity, in approximately a horizontal plane when the toy is in position to propel said Whirligig, which pawl is adapted to swing under gravity into engagement with said ratchet when the toy is held in position for storing energy in said spring.

2. The structure of the next preceding claim, in which said ferrule member includes a transversely extending web to which said ratchet and said pawl are secured in their said organization.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 

